The Atlanta Falcons are listening to offers for their star wide receiver, Julio Jones. Several teams, including the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, and Tennessee Titans, have been linked to potential trade rumors about the Falcons’ star. Each of these teams would love to have a receiver like Julio Jones, who many consider the best wide receiver in the NFL.
When you consider the needs of the teams who are heavily linked to the star wide receiver, adding Julio Jones makes complete sense. All of these teams could be elevated to the next level with a player of Julio Jones’ caliber.
Although the above teams are getting all the talk and attention in the Julio Jones rumors, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll end up playing in one of these destinations. While every team should want Julio Jones, adding him just doesn’t make sense for some teams. However, there are other teams who aren’t being talked about at all in the Julio Jones sweepstakes, who should make a move to acquire his services.
After thinking about which teams could quietly pursue the star wide receiver, I came up with a list of three under-the-radar trade destinations for Julio Jones.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers may come as a big surprise trade destination for Julio Jones. Last season, their top three receivers were Diontae Johnson (88 receptions for 923 yards), Chase Claypool (62 receptions for 873 yards), and Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster (97 receptions for 831 yards). With three receivers approaching 1,000 yards, it may not seem logical to add another receiver to the mix. However, when you take a deeper look into this Steelers roster from a season ago, it makes a lot more sense than it may first appear.
Many people blamed Ben Roethlisberger for the issues this team had offensively last season. While Roethlisberger got the blame, the real issue for the Steelers was the running game. The Pittsburgh Steelers ranked dead last in rushing last season, averaging 84.4 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry.
Due to their lack of ability to run the ball, the burden to carry the Steelers offensively fell solely on the arm of Ben Roethlisberger. At this point in his career, Roethlisberger is not built to do that. During the offseason, the Steelers made some moves to address this issue, one of those being drafting running back Najee Harris 24th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
While Harris may help the Steelers turn things around on the ground, things may not change right away. If the Steelers can’t get their ground game going, they’ll once again turn to Ben Roethlisberger to throw, throw and throw some more. If this is the case, adding Julio Jones makes perfect sense.
Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, and Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster are all young receivers with bright futures, but none of them are on the same level as Julio Jones. If the Steelers insist on throwing the ball that much, they can’t have too many weapons for Roethlisberger to throw too. In a win-now mode, adding the league’s best wide receiver will take this offense to a new level, and take a lot of pressure off Ben Roethlisberger.
2. Washington Football Team
Even though the Washington Football Team finished with a record of 7-9 last season, they were still able to win the NFC East. The biggest reason this team was able to win their division, was because of their defense. The Washington defense finished fourth in points allowed per game, giving up an average of just 20.6.
Entering this season, Washington should have one of the best defensive units in the NFL once again, as they made moves this offseason to fill some holes on the defensive side. Although the defense was one of the best a season ago, the same could not be said for their offense, which ranked 25th in points per game (20.9).
Part of the problem for Washington was having several starting quarterbacks throughout the season. This offseason, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was brought in. Fitzpatrick should bring some sort of stability to the position this coming season, but with that being said, he’s far from a franchise quarterback. Fitzpatrick has actually never made the playoffs. He’s a reliable quarterback, but that’s simply all he is.
If Washington is going to make the playoffs with Fitzpatrick behind the wheel of the offense, they should add a big-time weapon in Julio Jones to help him make that long eluded playoff appearance.
Washington has a star receiver in Terry McLaurin, but aside from him, there’s not much firepower on offense. The addition of Curtis Samuel should help (77 receptions for 851 yards last season), but they need more if they truly want to make a run at winning the NFC East again.
With Dak Prescott and several other starters being back from injury for the Dallas Cowboys, Jalen Hurts wanting to prove he’s the franchise quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Saquon Barkley being back from injury for the New York Giants, 7-9 is not going to win the NFC East again.
With a top-ranked defense, Washington doesn’t need a top offense to win this division, but they do need an offense ranked higher than 25th. Ryan Fitzpatrick could give them that, but he’d have a much greater chance if he had Julio Jones to throw to.
3. Miami Dolphins
I almost didn’t add the Miami Dolphins to this list. My first thought was that the Dolphins are rebuilding, so it doesn’t make sense for them to pursue a star like Julio Jones, due to him being in the back half of his career. However, after more consideration, I realized that the Miami Dolphins aren’t rebuilding. Last season they finished with a record of 10-6, missing the playoffs by just one game. Yes, the Dolphins still have questions about their roster, but their roster is built to compete right now.
The Miami defense tied for fifth in points allowed per game last season. Similar to the Washington Football Team, the biggest question for the Dolphins is their offense. Tua Tagovailoa split time with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback last season, but now Fitzpatrick is gone. Tua looked great at times last season, but also didn’t look so great other times.
Tua still has a lot of growing to do, but quarterback isn’t the biggest problem for this offense. Wide receiver is a bigger issue. Last season, the Dolphins’ leading receiver was DeVante Parker, who caught 63 passes for 793 yards. Tight end Mike Gesicki had a nice season also, catching 53 passes for 703 yards. After that, the production at receiver dropped off significantly. Myles Gaskin, who is a running back, was the third leading receiver on the team, with 388 receiving yards.
Miami invested a first-round pick in Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle. Waddle should play a big role in this offense and help Tua Tagovailoa and this offense make strides, but Miami shouldn’t be satisfied with the weapons they have for their young quarterback. With a defense ready to compete for championships, the offense needs all the firepower it can get. This is why Miami should consider trading for Julio Jones.
Adding Julio Jones to the mix would not only help Tua Tagovailoa grow, but it would also take pressure off DeVante Parker, Mike Gesicki, and Jaylen Waddle. The addition of Julio Jones would take this offense from being mediocre to a top 10 offense that would complement their defense very nicely.